What a player
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We had such a pessimistic view of South American youth signings back then 
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I remember @Maverick79 was pretty high on him as soon as he saw him in pre seasonā¦ nice work 
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Haha yeah I do remember that, I was so pessimistic 
I quickly did a 180 though
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All totally warranted though, being conditioned for the best part of 15 years to believe
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Such a good video. One thing I noticed is how many times Saka and Martinelli assist each other. Theyāll overtake Kane and Son in due time.
Heās so two-footed and really underrated in the air, scores a decent number of tricky headers.
Emery deservedly catches a lot of flack, but he gave Saka and Martinelli their big breaks and that is huge and something he deserves praise for.
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I canāt remember which player we were talking about, but I remember that old fool Bradymagic refused to give credit to Wenger for a similar thing. Said Wenger was basically backed into a corner and had no other choice.
Anyway, youāre right. Itās always a massive gamble for any manager to start regularly playing a 18 year old. More often that not, the occasion gets to them and they have a nothing performance. Emery gave them opportunities. Olā vampire chops did us a solid.
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No matter what, this guy gives it his all. Heās been off colour for a while now and while he has scored a few goals in the last two games, heās not back to his pre World Cup form. I think heās started to think a lot more about what heās doing rather than just be instinctive.
Have seen him hesitating to cross the ball when he has time and space. Heās also much less trigger happy and wants to take the extra touch or two. Donāt know if it was something he was told during the World Cup or what but something has changed. I also feel heās not taking on players as much, preferring to find a team mate than lose possession, which I think takes away from his core strengths. Maybe itās just a confidence thing. But canāt deny, itās great to see him score important goals again.
Itās exciting to imagine where players like him, Saka, Ode might take this club in a few years.
we were all right at the time
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Thoughts on him leading the line today?
He gives you tons of energy but overall Iām not a fan. Needs to refine his game on the wing a little more before Iād want to consistently give him minutes at 9.
His pace and energy levels were pretty good though, never stopped chasing
Werenāt great today. ESR, Mar 9 and Saka, as a three seemed very disconnected.
We only played a few balls through the gap or over the top though and he got on the end of them. Nketiah is more polished as a striker it would seem but Martinelli clearly can play there.
In fairness I suppose it was a nightmare to play them and Vieira in a 1 nil down scenario when theyāve never really played any minutes together.
However I really canāt wait to get a little consistency back with Jesus leading the line. Martinelli, ESR, Trossard, Vieira can all fight for their minutes which isnāt a bad problem to have
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He really needs to tone it down with the overholding of the ball. Multiple occasions he did it today and it often led to nothing better a quick pass could have simply achieved.
Late on he did it again and sent an awful ball over Zinchenko who barely headed the ball that gave away a needless throw-in to Bournemouth while chasing the game.
I actually thought Nelson wing play puts pressure on him down the line.
I donāt think he has natural line leading skills tbh.
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I thought that too actually. Reiss looks very calm and confident on the ball out left, knew when to play the quick give and go and knew when to get it into the box with purpose.
I know people love Martinelli but heās a frustrating player for me. He just doesnāt have that intrinsic composure I see from Saka, Trossard or even Nelson today. Not to mention I consider a fully fit ESR a better technical player too.
What he does give you is goals and energy but Mikel needs to work with him, either that or heāll fall out of love with his style and Martinelli will find himself Tierneyād - a good player that doesnāt fit a great system.
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Martinelli is 4 in his last 4. Reiss Nelson isnāt a threat to him at all. Can give him a breather in the Europa though.
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Weāll just not count today then haha
That still puts him 4 in 4 no?
1 against Villa, 1 against Leicester, 2 against Everton, 0 today.
